I expect this has been discussed on here somewhere but I can't find it. However pie-in-the-sky the actual ideas are, there are some pretty cool looking pictures to look at! Oh, and what could very well be one of my very best aviation photos right at the bottom.

What I didn't know until reading this was that 'hypersonic' refers to speeds over Mach 5, currently limited to 'just small experimental vehicles' (they clearly haven't met my dad's 25 year old Peugeot 405 estate then...)

The potential is incredible obviously, but the cynic in me can't help but wonder if we'll ever really see 'manned' travel this fast, mainly due to the ridiculous costs which must be involved - who is so tight for time that they need to get across the globe in a few hours? Surely if you need to be somewhere that fast, even now, you Skype (or whatever equivalent).

Maybe for disaster relief or, of course, military use.

But commercially, even on a tiny scale, I can't see it. Be pretty cool if the technology did develop that far though (although again, you'd have to argue whether the money would be better spent elsewhere) - imagine the flypast at RIAT "now, from your le...oh, sorry".

It seems there is a new 'project' for super/hyper sonic aircraft every other month since Concorde was retired. Until I see it actually wheeled out for an official reveal I won't believe any of these reports.

yes, its very easy to make a fancy CAD render of a pointy plane but a lot harder to turn that into an actual aircraft... You have to wonder whether any of these projects will even reach the prototype phase

As is pointed out in that article the real problem is not the airframe but the engine. Having attended a presentation and tour at Reaction Engines' HQ I have seen that they are making good progress with their SABRE hybrid rocket system and have attracted significant investment. Although the SABRE system is intended for orbital launches, adapting the principle to a sub-orbital/transcontinental craft would very possible.

I wouldn't write off the prospects for a hypersonic air transport too quickly.

nothing is confirmed at a show until it's u/c hits the tarmac or it's running in for it's display.....